Second is Sometimes Better than First
by D. A. Athren
Summary: -Real Life AU #2- Water park fun ensues as Eboni is reminded that she wasn't dreaming last night. She really DID meet Matt and he really DID want to hang out with her but...will something get in the way of their enjoyment of the day?


Today was not the day for her to feel like this. She had been lying in bed wide awake for almost an hour now but she still refused to open her eyes. She knew if she opened them that everything was going to come crashing down on her, which was a shame really. She was still trying to decide whether or not last night was just a dream; a complete and total figment of her imagination. _"Why do you have to be so cruel world…?"_

As if the Universe was answering her, her cell started to buzz and then screamed 'Fantastic…oh Fantastic!'

With a groan, she turned onto her right side and reached for the device which had signaled that she had gotten a text message. It was probably Sam wondering where she had ran off to last night. _"Oh, I just showed a figment of my imagination around Ocean City last night. Drunk him under the table and rambled on about the delights of Ocean City. You know, the usual insanity."_

She flipped open the cell and was caught off guard. The odd series of numbers was definitely not her best friend's phone number. She had never seen it before. Pressing the touch screen to open the text from the mysterious number, Eboni found herself gobsmacked.

~Hey Eboni. I think we both slept through the wake up calls we set up last night at the front desk. Housekeeping literally walked in on me in nothing but my pants and one boot. I don't even know how I got my trousers off with one boot on. Anyway, I figured I give you a text. Meet you in the stairwell in 30. - MRS~

"Holy shit…last night wasn't a dream," she mumbled as she tapped her fingers on the touch screen.

~Whoa…I've actually been awake for a bit and convinced myself that last night was a dream and I had really gone off the deep end. Seriously, how do I know this isn't Sam playing a cruel joke on me? - Dark Angel~

She placed her cell back on the nightstand and got out of bed very slowly. Pain shot up from her knee, making her stumbling forward dangerously. Luckily there was a breakfast table to catch herself on or else she would have found herself sprawled out on the floor. Stretching her knee out, she looked through the white plastic bag sitting on the table. Several shirts, capris, bathing suits, and toiletries were shoved inside of it. _"Hmmm…don't remember shopping last night?"_

Eboni was pulled out of her thoughts as her cell buzzed and screamed at her again. Picking up the device, she opened the text to find a picture of her and Matt staring back at her. She instantly recognized the background as being that of the Wal-Mart Supercenter located just outside of town. They both stared at the camera with glazed over eyes and he had his arm draped over her shoulder, pulling her to him so she was in frame.

~You told me last night that you might think this but a dream so I created physical evidence to convince your morning self that your last night self did, indeed, meet me. See ya in a bit :P - MRS~

She scoffed at the text, tapping on the screen as she made her way over to the bathroom.

~My last night self is good…I'm going to assume I paid for the room and clothes on the credit card I just finished bringing the balance down to 0. Grrreeeat…hopping in the shower now… - Dark Angel~

She set the phone down again, rubbing her eyes as she tried to clear the dark cloud that was still settled in her mind and making her limbs heavier than they should be. Getting up from the bed, she made her way into the bathroom and turned on the shower, setting the temperature a bit colder than usual. Throwing off the nightgown she apparently brought, she stepped into the shower and knew immediately that the pulsing fall of water wasn't going to wash away the feeling like she hoped.

* * *

He gave himself a mental pat on the back as he pushed open the doorway leading to the stairwell. Not only did he shower, get his unruly hair to behave, and get use to the strappy things that Eboni had explained last night as 'flip flops', he had dodged the photographers with ease and was 2 minutes early for once in his 31 years of living. She was apparently early as well because as he made it down one flight of stairs, she was standing at the next floor's door wearing a weary look on her face which perked up as she looked up at him. "Morning!"

She smiled. "Morning to you too! How's the flip flops treatin' ya?"

Matt couldn't help but smile at the country twang in her voice. She had warned him that after a night of drinking the country bumpkin would peak through. "I'm getting use to it. I have to admit, my feet aren't sweating like they did yesterday in my boots."

"Great!" she enthused. He couldn't help but notice that it didn't reach her eyes like it did the other night. As if sensing he was going to inquire about it, she pushed off the wall with a skip before heading down the stairs, her flip flops making a slapping sound as she went down. "Come along, Mattie Boy. Lots of things to see and taste!"

He couldn't help but give a little chuckle at her comment, fighting back the urge to say something less than gentleman like behind it. He quickly caught up with her, making sure to get in front of her by the time they hit the bottom stairs. "Let me go first. I need to check to see if there are any lingering fans and such in the lobby. Trying to give us as much alone time as we can get today."

He didn't realize what he said until he heard her sharp intake of air followed by a muffled giggle. He didn't even look back at her when he motioned her to follow him as he entered the lobby. "Already starting with the dirty mind this morning, hmm Ebbie? Couldn't it at least wait until we got some tea and sugar in us?"

She bumped into his arm as she tried to keep up with his long strides as they made their way out the hotel's doors, which made him notice that she was nearly a foot shorter than him. "Oh, Matt, you didn't learn anything about me last night? It is NEVER too early or late to have your mind in the gutter."

"Is it an American thing? Being so bloody dirty?" he mused. She just shrugged her shoulders, shoving her hands into the pockets of the dark, denim biker shorts she wore; her lime green baby doll shirt rustling in the strong breeze running through the ocean town. "Nah, this is very specific to me honestly. Helps me make up for the lack of a love life I have."

He frowned. "Really? You don't have a man waiting for you back home?"

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "Haven't dated anyone since February of last year. It's been right voluntary really. I was so sick of putting my all into things that had a cut out bottom. I should have known better than to think someone as young as Noise would be able to mature up. Fool didn't even know what he wanted!"

Matt could hear the hurt in her voice towards the end of her statement, his heart aching for her a bit. He, too, knew the feeling of heart break she was speaking of. He felt something similar when he and Daisy had called it quits for the last time. He didn't regret his time with her, not one bit. He just wished things had ended on a better note and not so soon. He was just glad Eboni was more willing to talk about it now than she had been last night. In her buzzed state, she had refused to talk about anything that would sober her up and now he understood why she avoided talking about intimate relations.

By the time he had pulled himself out of his thoughts, he realized they had walked in silence since she last spoke. He also realized that they were holding hands and he couldn't quite remember who had reached out to who first. With the sidewalk being so narrow, it was probably just an unconscious decision to hold them with his arm and her shoulder brushing against each other the whole time. She looked up at him with a half-smile and swung their intertwined hands which caused him to grin down at her. The look in her eye was that of kindness and signaled to him that she probably did this with all her friends, male and female alike.

Moments later, he could see the store front with pink lettering on the front that said Candy Kitchen. She tugged at his arm as they cut across the parking lot towards the building. He instinctively jumped ahead of her, holding open the door and she shot him a look of surprised thanks. "Hmm I could get use to your British gentleman ways," she giggled. As he followed her into the store, the scent of cooking sugar and nuts filled his nose, making him sigh in contentment.

"Welcome, Mr. Smith, to the Candy Kitchen! You name it, they have it. From modernized chocolates to retro novelty candy, they have it all here. All their store brand candies are made on site or at their local factory, which is literally 10 minutes away."

He could see Eboni staring at him out of the corner of his eyes as he made his way into the store, looking very smug. Thinking on it, he probably looked wide eyed and maybe was even drooling as he looked over all the candy, trying to decide on what to buy for their early morning tea date. Well, really wasn't a date per say…more of a meet up that they were both going to walk into at the same time. Yup, that's what it is! That's all it is…

* * *

She sighed contently as she sipped on the hot tea. "Soooo how long are you staying in town?"

He smiled. "Oh, I don't know yet. I have the next 2 weeks off but I didn't really plan anything past staying here with Arthur until he left town."

Oh, how could she have forgotten about that? "Looks like we both ditched our best friends last night. I'm actually a little surprised I haven't heard from Sam yet. She's usually the one that leaves me by myself somewhere."

"Arthur is like that with me a lot. One minute we're signing autographs and the next minute has me surrounded by fans and he has somehow managed to get away. Sly fox he is!" He rolled his eyes before taking another sip of his tea.

"Why do we keep them around, huh? Nothing but trouble they are! One time Sam dragged me on this blind double date. Well, it wasn't quite blind since she gave me his cell and we had texted back and forth. The guy seemed nice. We both had an obsession with Magic the Gathering and Dragon Age Origins. Date night comes and he has the WORSE B.O. I have EVER encountered. Like, I'm OCD about making sure I smell good in every way, shape, or form. His B.O. kept mixing with my Black Raspberry Vanilla perfume I got from Bath & Body Works and it would make this weird terrible yet sweet smell. I literally was fighting gags the whole night while Sam and her date had a blast. Ugh! She gets me into such trouble!"

She smiled in delight as she watched Matt bellow with laughter, spitting tea all over the table. "You know, Arthur got me into a similar situation. Apparently he felt the makeup girl from Broadchurch would be a good match for me so he gave me her number. I texted her and we chatted about the books we were reading. After a few days of this, I had some free time so we met up for afternoon tea. The girl showed up with her face CAKED with makeup. Like, seriously, her foundation was so thick that it looked like plaster. It was a real shame too because her eye makeup for sooo adorable!"

She gaped at him. "Oh my God! You totes just went metropolitan man on me. You aren't going to go all Patrick Bateman on me, are you?"

This just caused him to laugh even harder. "No, Ebbie, I am not going to go all psycho on you. Can't a man be knowledgeable of makeup? I mean, I love women! Just seems logical to know about some of the things you do. I can proudly say I know all about the different kinds of tampons and pads and such and I also know to buy chocolate and ice cream too."

"Uh oh, watch out fathers with daughters! Matt Smith knows how to smooth talk us women into his bed. NO ONE IS SAFE!" she squealed, rising out of her seat and addressing the café. Everyone just looked at them crazily and he swatted at her to sit down.

"Calm down woman! If we get noticed we'll have to run from the photographers again," he said, pointing at finger at her scoldingly.

"Pssshhh no paparazzi is going to keep me from embarrassing my new best friend!"

"Oh, I've gotten to best friend status now, ta?"

Eboni blushed a bit, taking a deep swig of her tea. "Oh don't let it go to your head, mister! But I have to admit. I don't really get along with people. I'm too dorky or too honest and it has left me with a lot of enemies and plenty of knives in the back. You aren't some prissy movie star so I think I'll keep ya as a best friend, if you don't mind that is."

"You humble me Miss McCready. Here I was thinking people were just after me for my sonic screwdriver!"

She stuck her tongue out at him before eyeing his bag of lemonheads. "You don't like them?"

"Nah mate! I tried one and it just didn't go well with the tea I'm drinking."

"Aren't your just having Earl Grey with lemon and honey?"

He nodded. "Yup! It's just too much lemon for my liking. The rest of the candies are wonderful though."

"You have to give them the second best rule," she said, handing him a lemonhead from the bag.

"What's the second best rule?" he asked with a shrug. She just rolled her eyes at him and took a bite out of her scone before answering.

"Second is sometimes better than first. You aren't going to like everything the first time you try it so you should always give everything a second try before you completely write it off as something you don't like. This time try biting the candy instead of sucking on it."

He frowned at her before raising an invisible eyebrow. "That sounds like it is going to pucker me up!"

"Nah! It won't pucker you up. The center is super sweet so if you bite and chew, it should give you almost a lemonade flavor on your tongue."

He stared at the candy for a bit before looking back up to her. She looked at him expectantly, her mouth curved into a half smile. Shrugging, he popped the candy into his mouth, biting down on it until it broke into little pieces. She watched as he tilted his head to the side, a look of thought etched on his face. He took a deep gulp of his tea before speaking. "Ok, so I do like them!"

"See! I'm telling ya, live your life by the second best rule and you will NEVER miss out on anything great!"

"I will definitely have to add this rule in my book of things to live by," he said with a smirk, popping a few more lemonheads into his mouth. "After we finish our tea and candy here, what will you show me next?"

"I figured we sit here, let the candy and scones break down in our tummies a bit, try to contact our MIA best friends, and then head down to Jolly Rogers for some water park fun!"

"We're right next to the beach and you want to go to the water park?" he scoffed. She just rolled her eyes at him. "Honestly the beach isn't all that great. It's the peak in the season so everyone and their mothers are out on the beach trying to sun bathe plus the water is freezing and has horseshoe crabs lurking closer to shore. Their stingers are huge and can make you awfully sick."

He leaned backed in the chair, crossing his legs at the knee. "That doesn't sound fun at all…"

"Yea. With everyone heading out to the beach and thinking like you, the water park will have low foot traffic so the waits will be short and the lazy river will be nearly empty. We can get a little color, enjoy some frozen lemonades, and, honestly, what paparazzi is going to think about camping out the local Mom and Pop water park for a celeb," she beamed.

"Oh you are brilliant!" he grinned.

She couldn't help but blush a bit at the praise in his voice. "I am known for thinking ahead of time. Now eat up! You are going to need all the energy for the park."

* * *

Matt looked down at the steep slide with wide eyes before turning his glaze back to Eboni then to the slide again. "Ummm…are you sure this is safe?!"

She nodded nervously to him. "Yup, this slide has been in operation for almost 10 years now."

He gulped nervously to himself. He wasn't afraid of heights. In fact, he begged the producers to let him hang from bottom of the Tardis for the 50th anniversary opening scene. No, what really scared him about this slide was that the bottom was curved into a half-pike and you slide to the very edge of the curve before yo-yoing back and forth until you hit the landing pool at the end. Heights he could handle…the edge of a very steep slide that the employees locked themselves into a harness to be able to seat you in your tube and sliding to the very edge of the pike that didn't have a safety rail on it…yea…that freaked him out!

"How did I let you talk me into this?" he gulped again.

She shrugged her shoulders at him. "You wanted adventure. I thought this would be adventurous. You aren't the only one regretting the decision the closer we get to the front of the line. I've always been scared of the Stealth."

He looked down at her, finally noticing the genuine fear in her eyes. "Are you telling me you are taking me on a death trap that even YOU haven't experienced before? Did you check to make sure there haven't been any deaths because of this ride!?"

She held her side of their tube tighter to her body, gulping nervously as she stared at the front of the line again and then to him with wide eyes. "I figured, you know, since you're here and wanted something fun to do that I would muster the bollocks and try this on for size. You know, it is just a little comforting trying something new with a friend, yea?"

He couldn't stay mad at her with that sentiment. She was right; trying something scary with a friend was kind of comforting. If they died, at least they would die together after their day of running around in the park. This was the last slide for them to try out before heading into the Lazy River to relax before leaving the park and heading out to meet Arthur and Eboni's friend, Sam, somewhere for drinks and dinner. He was actually really looking forward to seeing how the two pairs of friends functioned around a table. He was damn sure Arthur would love Eboni just for the fact of their shared musical background.

"Next up!" the ride attendant bellowed.

Matt snapped his eyes forward, surprised to see that they were now the next ones in line. Looking at Eboni, he found that she was staring at him contently, giving him a comforting smile. "If you don't want to do this, we can just skip this ride and head straight to the Lazy Ride. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

He smiled. "I know you're scared of heights and this ride is pretty high up. It took a lot of bravery for you to even suggest this. No, we are getting on this ride damnit and if we die, well, it would be a pretty wicked way to go out."

The ride attendant just grunted at them. "You're holding up the line!"

She snapped her eyes to the attendant; growling in the back of her throat and giving the guy a look that made him snap his mouth shut. He held back his laughter and tugged the two-seat tube from her hands to give it to the attendant. The guy quickly positioned it before speaking. "Ma'am, you'll have to sit in the back since you are *cough* bigger. I'm sorry."

Matt watched her blush briefly before nodding and flopping down on the back seat. He nodded to the attendant as well and scooted between the two before sitting down gingerly in the front of the tube, gulping nervously again as he got an unbridled view of the steep dip of the slide. _"Be brave, Smith! Even if you piss your trunks all the evidence will be washed away!"_

She grabbed at his shoulders and he instinctively placed his hands on top of hers. "Ebbie, if we don't make it down, I want you to know that you have been absolutely wonderffuuuuuuuuuuuuuAAAHHH!"

They went full force down the slide, his hair whipping away from his forehead as the hit the very bottom of the curve and skyrocketed up the incline. Everything slowed down for a moment as he took in the view of the park and highway before they went flying back down the opposite side and then shot back to the other. Eboni's nails were digging almost painfully into his shoulders but he was pretty sure his grip on her hands was just as tight. They both were screaming at the top of their lungs.

By the time they hit the landing pool, their screams had turned into almost relieved laughs before they flipped in the tube, submerging them. He easily got himself back onto his feet, the short girl taking a few seconds longing to find her footing and surface as well.

"Oh my Gods that was awesome!" she squealed in delight, chasing after their tube.

"That guy was such a wanker! He didn't even give us a warning or anything. I was going to say Geronimo…" he mumbled. He easily caught up to her by the time she was finally able to grab the tube. He watched her for a few minutes as she tried to get onto the tube without his help and failing. She looked like a hunter wrestling an alligator before he gave a hardy laugh and reached out, holding the tube in place for her. She looked up to him, her face red with embarrassment before she mumbled thanks and jumped in.

Once she was settled, he jumped into the front seat, positioning himself in a way so they faced each other; his legs draped over hers. Using the foot closes to the pool's wall, he gave a strong kick, sending them into the gentle current of the Lazy River. They sat there in comfortable silence, catching each other's eyes every once in a while as they floated along. He couldn't help but stare at her in wonder. Here they were, only being friends for the last 48 hours but they were already comfortable enough around each other that they didn't feel the need to make small talk. The presence of one another was all they really needed to be content.

Matt was snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed that even though she didn't have her head turned directly towards him, her eyes were definitely trained on him. Dipping his hand into the water, he waited until he saw her eyes move to look up at a group of people walking by the river before he cupped it, swung up, and splashed her with water. She gave a gasp of surprise before her features morphed into something that screamed 'This is WAR!'

Before he could tell her no, she cupped both of her hands and made a rowing motion with them, hounding him with water. Gurgling under the tsunami, he tried his best to splash her back but failed. "Aruurggghr I arhgrhggh surrender!"

He pushed his hair out of his face once she stopped, watching her laugh like a maniac before she looked at him again, raising an eyebrow curiously. He just gave her a half smile before settling comfortably on the raft again, his eyes portraying his gratefulness for the company.

* * *

They walked hand in hand down the sidewalk lazily as they made their way back to the hotel. She could already feel the soreness settling into her thighs and calves as she focused on the cracks in each section of sidewalk. All she could think about was how surreal everything seemed. She had taken Matt Smith to the Candy Kitchen and had morning tea with him. They had rode almost every ride in Jolly Roger's at least twice and shared a slice of pizza and banana split during the brief break they took around 2pm. And now here she was, holding hands with him as they headed back to where they were staying with plans to meet up with her bestie and Arthur FUCKING Darvill later. She should be ecstatic right now but…she wasn't.

Yes, she was smiling at him and a part of her was truly enjoying his company. Another part of her, a bigger part of her, was nagging at every little thing that they had did today. This part was telling her that she didn't deserve this happiness and that he was only putting up with her because he didn't feel like putting up with some Hollywood type girl at the moment. The 'voice' was telling her that as soon as he became bored or distracted with other things he was going to leave her in the dust and the debt she was running up on her credit card wasn't worth it. She sighed heavily, fighting with the dark thoughts.

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

She shook her head as if that was going to shake the depressing thoughts out of the forefront of her min and forced a smile. "I'm sorry. No, I didn't hear a word. I guess the heat and running around took more out of me then I thought."

He frowned. "You did tell me over lunch today that had a few health problems. I didn't even think about how active we've been. Here, let me take your bag!"

Without arguing, she handed her drawstring bag over to him; a part of her relieved to have an excuse to not have to touch him anymore now that his hands were full. She didn't deserve such a comfort. "Thanks…"

"No problem!" he enthused. "You know, we could probably text our friends and push back the dinner date til 9 instead of 8. That way you could get a longer nap in."

She didn't deserve the rest. Why did he keep offering things that she didn't deserve!? "That actually sounds like a good plan. I'll text Sam once I get settled in my room."

They walked in silence the rest of the way before he turned to her to speak at her door, handing her bag back. "Today has been a really great! I'm definitely looking forward to having all of us gathered for dinner tonight."

"Yea," she mumbled. "Today has been great…see ya in a few hours."

She quickly opened her door and went inside before he could say or do anything else to her. She heard him mumble something in response followed by his footsteps echoing in the hallway until everything was silent again. Exhaling slowly, she pressed her forehead against the back of the door until, finally, the sob she had been holding back since the Lazy River finally escaped her.

_"__You are so messed up…"_


End file.
